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The article states that HTC prefers to let its products do the talking. The problem is that HTC needs to give its brand a voice. What does HTC mean? And I'm not referring to High Tech Computer. What does HTC stand for? Until it defines and communicates that, it will remain, to paraphrase the title of the article, the nowhere brand.
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This article comes at an interesting moment. I have been trying to convince a Taiwanese friend to quit HTC for a little while now, arguing that the brand has lost its edge for good.
HTC hasnt really been innovating for a while now. Both in software (HTC Sense 4 is nothing revolutionary, unlike when Sense was running on Windows 6.1)and in hardware. In fact even the "One" is a mere follower to phones like the Google Nexus both in terms of interface and performance.
The styling isn't too great either. The whole range looks... about the same. Materials are cheapo combinations of plastic, a reminiscence of their days as an OEM.
The range is a clusterf**k. Models are hard to figure out from one another. Can you tell me which is the best phone between the Desire HD, the Sensation S, and the Sensation XL?
HTC has tried helping this with the One, but the only innovation there is that the SAME phone will go out on all markets, instead of a geographically fragmented range.
The company has all the bad traits of a Taiwanese firm that grew too fast. Management is micromanaging to the paper-clip level, the work of hundreds of R&D engineers is ignored in favor of solutions from outside vendors, and clearly the company has NO vision as to what should be the future of smartphones just as the market is about to triple in size within the next ten years.
My prediction is that HTC will finish just like a yesteryear darling of the Taiwanese industry: Cyberlink.
After a meteoric rise during the 90's and early 2000's, Cyberlink has almost stalled and lost its innovative edge in codecs, filters, and features. But it has also completely missed the mobile app revolution, and seen its market share eaten away by free and open source software. The company has nearly halved its workforce in 5 years.
On the smartphone front, the innovators (Apple, Samsung) will pull ahead and steal away the juciest bits with excellent design and superb software, while a new breed of competitors (ZTE, Huawei) will invade the low to medium segments of the market with "good enough" smartphones.
Brace for impact, HTC.

While opening the modern economic history of this island, after 1980s, Information Technologies (IT) or high-tech mainly steers the direction of Taiwan’s industrial development. The intensively capitalist along with brain-inclined enterprises flourish in Taiwan, especially in Hsinchu or Tainan, leading Taiwan’s industrial development to another transformation. Taiwan’s technology and skill are nearly equal to Japan’s and the industry has close tie with Japan’s. Rather than Japan’s business suffering, after 2008’s global financial crisis, Taiwan’s manufacturers damaged less and tried to make another chance like Hon-Hai which bought 10% Sharp’s share last month.

Along the sidewalk of Taiwan’s growing industry, numerous stories tell the world that the newly-industrialized economics (NIEs) build-up makes the advanced nation under pressure owing to the lower cost and highly efficient quality. The aggressive spirit of inhabitant, the original virtue making the past Taiwan stand at No.1 output - especially sugar, rice and tea leaves, resulted in this brilliant achievement dressing the Formosa. So does Taiwan’s industrial value of some brand nowadays in the world.

Very earlily and among these stories, the anecdotes and business’ principle from Wang Yong-Ching’s family are most talked and learnt by Taiwan’s every family. Until now, the Wang’s dynasty of Taiwan Formosa Plastic still be invincible in Taiwan; furthermore, Wang Shuei-Hung (Cherr Wang), Mr. Wang’s daughter, even became the Taiwanese richest last year.

The first that I impressed on her business is VIA Technologies, co-founded with the present husband Chen Wen-Chi in 1992. At the beginning, VIA, one of the sprouting electronic business, provided the integration system for small or medium business establishing automatic control. In 1997, Cherr Wang expanded her new territory into mobile devise by founding HTC, a tiny contract manufacturing outfit, and about 2005, HTC expressed the two “first” successful product - PPC6700 in 3G and HTC Universal with Microsoft’s system. Then, HTC Touch in 2007 and first Google Android’s T-Mobile G1 in 2008 ensured her leading place of mobile devise in the world. In the earlier years of Android, HTC was the closest with Google (now Motorola is) so, for the consumers - especially radical buyers of technology like me - HTC’s mobile phone is no question of the best choice.

It has been long time since HTC became the market-king in Taiwan Weighed Index shortly after the remark on HTC Hero, which first preloaded well-designed HTC Sense matching Android. I bought and became a user of HTC Legend nearly two years ago, highly praising the endurance and specific sense of touch. During the trend in Android, HTC is still the largest producer of Android and windows mobile system - and the only - having the ability to compete with i-Phone.

Crossing the 4G technique as HTC EVO 4G with Sprint in 2010, Cherr Wang constantly chases the next apex and advance in range of both hardware and software. 2012’s first-quarter of HTC’s net income was NT$4.46 billion ($151 million), which was posted on its website last Friday, a 70% drop from a year earlier. At the same date, HTC’s biggest competitor, Samsung, announced the rise to a quarterly record 5.8 trillion won ($5.1 billion, including non-mobile phone concerned) in the first three months in 2012, compared with 2.95 trillion won a year earlier. And Sony finished the buyout from Ericsson, intending to earn next glory.

Although there were some bad news from the producer of mobile phone last year, such as the nearly declining Nokia, some lawsuit among Samsung, HTC and Apple, the present hottest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and moreover potential Android 5.0 Jelly Bean excited many producers’ progress. The climax of Android 4.0 happened in the recent Barcelona show in Mobile World Congress 2012 (MWC), where HTC’s CEO Peter Chou started the highlight of launch event as following:

From a peep at this show, HTC ONE series, whose processor (ONE X) owns the best “quad-core” 1.5GHz, caught every media’s eyes. According to IDG and PCWorld’s reports, there are more latest innovation produced by Asia's Sony, Samsung, LG, Huawei and America's Motorola, Blackberry showing off their limitation on challenge, like LG’s Optimus 4X HD, Sony’s Xperia P and U (S already unveiled in CES). Comparing with the strengthened HDMI for viewing media on TV, said by Peter Chou, Sony whose Xperia S owns 1200-pixel camera provides another choice for me. I might carefully consider my next Android Phone between HTC and Sony.

HTC makes decent phones. Though nowhere matching to iPhone's snazzy and cool factor or with that aspirational value. However if they are targeting to be serious smartphone manufacturer is it not committing harkiri; accepting that Apple's technology and product is leagues ahead of them.
Another factor that is missing here is HTC for last 2 quarters has been beaten by Samsung everywhere except its home market Taiwan, where nationalist pride makes people buy it.
And it owes it's rise to prominence to Android and the claim of being first Google phone, which helped its brand massively.

Another strange thing is lack of Chinese players in the market, they manufacture a lot of smartphone (counting assembling for Apple, Samsung etc) why can't they put up half decent competitor to HTC at least in home market. (esp since they are in ahem ripping of IPs of MNCs)
(Apparently Apple is 'god' brand in China, after I read about hysteria following iPad HD release and today of stupid chinese teenager selling his kidney (!) to buy iPhone and iPad)

The HTC One series is truly extraordinary:
- camera with dedicated photo processing chip, better than the average point & shoot camera.
- 4 core, 1.5Ghz! That's the same speed as my laptop with twice the number of cores!
- 1 GB of RAM! Even half that would be unheard of on a phone!

HTC one isn't just a phone: it is a decent-performance computer made to fit in the shirt pocket, armed with every networking technology available, GPS & sensors, a good-quality digital camera & camcorder, the best audio quality of all phones/ mp3 players, etc. It pulls this off far better than any previous smart phone.

Salivating, but we'll have moved on to the next generation before this becomes affordable here.

I'm in E. Africa and had never heard of HTC till 2009 when I nearly bought an iphone. At the last minute I took a gamble and bought the HTC Wildfire - I have never had any problems with it and still use it till today. In my view HTC have done a great job of producing a near alternative to the iphone much as they don't have as big a resource for R&D etc.
Keep it up HTC...

HTC is finally picking their battle. Instead of going head-on with Samsung on screen and processing they have opted to concentrate on speedy graphic chips and special camera function. I think this will clearly differentiate themselves from the competitors. Preliminary March sales figures looks hopeful and I think bodes well for the rest of the year. But smartphone users can be quite fickle, so HTC will have to keep up their innovation and not just rely on their loyal fanboy user base. Their target now shouldn't be Samsung or Apple but rather Blackberry and Nokia.

On camera tech & "shops in shops" sales in China, they're clearly after Nokia. Since Nokia introduced the Lumia, their whole product development pace has shifted into low gear. HTC and many of the Android fans are so much faster -- at least that's the impression I'm getting. These are still early days, we should the pace to pick up, once Nokia/Microsoft establish WP on a firmer footing.

I have to say, that HTC's phones give Apple and Samsung a run for their money and I hope they will continue to do so...
Samsung makes good phones, but the cheap plastic casing is what bothers me on them (plus at least some of its earlier phones were really shoddy), whereas Apple has basically become a hipster cult with its "i" line of products. HTC as the producer of middle/upper class smartphones is in an excellent position to catch this part of the market and make beaucoup bucks.

This brand should not have got out of R&D. It does not sync with PC, however much you try. Obviously, it's software clashes with some others, which the company can not rectify. It's customer support is pathetic. They would not even respond to your calls. The guys at the so called customer center can not understand the problem, let alone solve it. It is better to go for well established brands.

From the begining, I thought HTC must be a bubble. The company used to be a contract manufacturer. The company is not strong in R&D in fundamental technologies. Without piles of patented intellectual properties, it's like a peddler of cheap fashion clothes. To survive in this hyper competitive world, you got to be very competitive in R&D as well. HTC will be sqeezed out between first tiers, such as Apple and Samsung, and third tiers Chinese manufactuers. I can see Chinese brands selling in numbers.

I have had nothing but trouble with HTC. Since July of 2010 I have gone through 3 HTC phones. They just die! Spoke with customer service and for a few hundred dollars they could assess the problem. Turns out the motherboard was "fried". Each one of the 3 has lasted approx. 6 months. I will never buy another HTC product ever.
Rick in Denver

I bought the HTC Evo. I was pretty unsatisfied from the begining. Message interface would freeze, send out random messages, or sometime not send them. It was glitchy, and not user friendly. Battery life was also horrible due to the gigantic screen. When I was up for an upgrade earlier this year I switched to the Iphone 4s. I am so happy with my new Iphone, it runs smoother, faster, with less glitches, and IMHO it's more user friendly. I just wish it had a cool kickstand!

I had never heard of HTC and about 18 months ago bought the HTC EVO 4G, the 'first 4G phone on the market'. And it can perform as a remote WiFi hotspot for 6-8 devices.

It has a secret feature: a 'Kick Stand' made of fine alloy aluminum and a brushed red inset bed. This feature confuses iPhone users who never seen one. They think it is a satellite antenna.

But it has provided dependable and reliable service. And a easy interface that has a nice weather announcement screen on first boot up. The Camera is surprisingly good rivaling my dedicated cameras. And it has survived dropping to the floor and street. And rain and water.

It is android based and there is a huge App market. It has a bigger than average screen. It is not an iPhone, but I am not disappointed. It is probably made in the same factory, two assembly lines away. Brands mean less and less. Vive la différence!

HTC Corporation is less than 15 years old. The iPhone is only 5 years old. Imagine where they will be in 5 more years.

I had been getting a new smartphone every year, but this seems like a keeper. I am aiming for 3 years plus.

Actually HTC assemble their own phone in Taiwan, not through Foxconn like iPhone. As for the 5 years old iPhone. I'm not sure what you mean by the following:
"HTC Corporation is less than 15 years old. The iPhone is only 5 years old. Imagine where they will be in 5 more years".
As you stated HTC has been in the field far longer than Apple, actually by a good 10 years, so not sure what 5 additional more years can we possibly imagine they will do.